UCLA vs. Arizona Fearless Prediction, Game Preview

Author:
Pete Fiutak
Publish date:
Sep 25, 2019

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UCLA vs. Arizona fearless prediction and game preview.

UCLA vs. Arizona Broadcast

Date: Saturday, September 28
Game Time: 10:30 ET
Venue: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ
Network: ESPN

UCLA (1-3) vs. Arizona (2-1) Game Preview

Why UCLA Will Win

Is that it? Is that the pivot everyone was waiting for? UCLA went from getting destroyed for a fourth straight game to totally unstoppable in the amazing 67-63 win over Washington State.

The defense was a disaster, but that’s not all that important against the high-powered Wazzu offense. What mattered was Dorian Thompson-Robinson breaking out, playing like the type of quarterback who could lead the program to big things going forward, throwing for 507 yards and five touchdowns – averaging over 13 yards per throw – with two rushing scores.

And now it has to continue against the leaky Arizona pass defense.

To be fair, the Wildcats faced two of the top high-octane passing games in college football – Hawaii and Texas Tech – but they’re currently second-to-last in college football in pass defense. There might not be a whole lot of big plays happening down the field, but there’s no pass rush from the Arizona defensive front, and and there’s a whole lot of dinking and dunking going on.

Why Arizona Will Win

Arizona’s pass defense might statistically be awful, but UCLA’s – after giving up 570 yards and nine scores to Wazzu’s Anthony Gordon and getting lit up by Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts – is the fourth-worst.

More importantly, the Bruin defense can’t seem to get off the field – it can’t generate a third down stop – allowing teams to connect on 49% of their third down chances.

Five of the top six third down offenses in college football are in the Big 12. The one outlier? Arizona’s, which is third in the country converting on 59% of its tries. Even with the big performance last week, the Bruins overall are miserable at keeping the chains moving.

Turnovers should be the difference. Arizona is sixth in the nation in turnover margin, and UCLA is a -7 on the year and 118th in the nation in giveaways. In a game like this, one blink, one mistake should be the difference.

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What’s Going To Happen

Was UCLA’s performance over the final 20 minutes in Pullman the real version of this team, or will everything go back to 2019 normal? It’s more likely the latter, at least when it comes to dealing with a rested and explosive Arizona team that should be able to move the ball however it wants to.

Click for CFN Podcast talking Week 4, Wisconsin football, and looking ahead to Week 5 …